We caught wind of the short film, Beach 87th St./Surfing After Sandy from the NYDN. Filmed by Jesse and Lukas Huffman in documentary style, it features the surfing community and how they were affected by Hurricane Sandy. It was filmed about 34 days after the storm.

It starts with a retelling of what things were like on October 29, 2012 from the vantage point of J. Scott Klossner, Keone Singlehurst and Beth Perkins, bungalow dwellers on Beach 87th Street. They talked of friends’ and neighbors’ homes flooding, with some residents not knowing how to swim. Things floated, and some crashed and broke. (more…)

The NY Times has a cool interactive map called A Survey of the Flooding in N.Y.C. After the Hurricane. The most major flooding that happened in Queens was in the Rockaways and Jamaica Bay/Broad Channel, but the map shows us all the other areas that flooded significantly – LaGuardia and JFK airports; down into Flushing Meadows Corona Park; all along Little Neck Bay and then into Alley Pond Park; the areas bordering Newtown Creek; and Hunters Point in LIC. In general, areas along the shoreline flooded, some more than others.

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The Greenpoint Star reports that toxic Superfund site Newtown Creek did overflow and it “overwhelmed the streets of Greenpoint, flooding homes and companies in the area.” And since Newtown Creek is on the border between Queens and Brooklyn, it also overflowed into parts of Queens, including LIC/Dutch Kills and Ridgewood.

We were particularly impressed by this collection of photos from all over the metro area of the flooding during Hurricane Sandy – the infamous one from LaGuardia airport, heartbreaking ones from the Rockaways (including Breezy Point), and flooding in Jamaica Bay are included. Here’s the LGA one (click to enlarge):

Today, I will be updating Voice readers about the storm from the evacuation zone of Long Island City. But my choice to not evacuate is not a macho thing. Rather — despite having been warned of the dangers of my current location by its current status as an “evacuation zone” as the supposed storm to end all storms is bearing down on New York — Long Island City is still a much safer neighborhood than Crown Heights, where I currently reside.

OK, then. He did post an update, post-hurricane:

Our apologies for our two-day absence, we were holed up in an apartment in an “evacuation zone” in Long Island City that — as it turns out — we probably should have evacuated.

Queens seems to have a problem with flooding – we’ve heard about it in Springfield Gardens (they’re dredging a local lake to help alleviate the flooding), as well as the consistent flooding in Willets Point (which has overall drainage problems). We’ve seen mini floods all over Queens, too (the flooding at Astoria Park during Hurricane Irene was really something else – some photos are here).

Have you ever had your basement flood? Most people are not a fan. The NY Daily News reports that the city is set to begin a $70-million plan to improve drainage in Springfield Gardens (GMAP). Flooding during heavy rainstorms is a particular nuisance and finding a solution is an important concern in the neighborhood and other parts of southeastern Queens. (more…)